Marauder Reborn
by AribethDA
Summary: Sirius wants to rebel againts his parents, James wants to play Quidditch, Remus wants friends, and Peter is just excited. None of this is new. But Ari is. Wanting to do nothing but forget Aribeth finds comfort in the company of four very different boys.
1. Chapter 1

Sirius quickly pushed his trolley through the crowd of witches and wizards milling about platform nine and three quarters without looking back, as though not looking would make whatever was behind him disappear. This tactic hadn't worked in the past, but as he was leaving for Hogwarts soon anyway, perhaps his parents would get the hint and leave him in peace early. Something collided with his back that jogged Sirius out of his dour revire.

"Sorry!" a kid with messy black hair and wire rimmed glasses who looked to be about Sirius' age called over his shoulder as he brushed by.

"That's what happens when you consort with muggles" an all too smooth and unfortunately familiar voice said, Sirius tensed as his father stepped up beside him. Although Sirius still doggedly avoided looking at him, he knew exactly how his father looked right now. Dressed in robes as black as his name, and fine boned face framed by immaculate hair, Sirius supposed he could be considered handsome if he ever took the sneer that obviously said that he believed he was better than anyone else off his face. "Although that boy is pureblooded I want you to be wary of him. His parents have long been a disgrace to all purebloods, discarding our sacred ways in favor of filthy muggles, and no doubt their son is no better."

"Yes, father," Sirius said through gritted teeth.

"Very good, now be off with you, your mother and I have more business to attend to."

Sirius took off, needing no other prompting. He cast his gaze around for the boy who had run into him. If his father didn't want him near that boy it naturally became Sirius' priority to become extremely close.

"Did you put the fire out?" Sirius called when he spotted the boy talking to an older couple. "You seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry," Sirius added at the confused look on the other boys face.

"Oh," the boy said, his expression clearing, "I just realized I forgot my bag where we had stopped to grab some lunch back in the muggle part of the station."

"And you were worried you wouldn't have anything to read on the train ride?" Sirius hedged, hoping he had guessed correctly and that he hadn't just insulted the boy.

"Nah, Quidditch supplies," he said, taking the bag from his shoulder and flipping the top flap open to reveal an assortment of Quidditch equipment including a pair of keeper's gloves and a beater's bat.

"What position do you play? All of them?"

"Well not at the same time, but I can hold my own wherever I'm needed, what about you?"

"I prefer beating myself; something really fun about being encouraged to smack something around as hard as you can."

The boy laughed, "yeah, especially if you've been having a horrible day, I'm James by the way,"

"Sirius."

"And these are my parents," James motioned to the older couple he had been talking to.

Sirius was slightly surprised, he had assumed they were his grandparents, but having been raised to respect adults, he kept this to himself. "It is very nice to meet both of you," Sirius said, extending his hand to James' father. The man raised his eyebrows, faint surprise showing on his face, but he took Sirius' proffered hand and shook it firmly.

"Harold Potter, and it's a pleasure to meet a boy with some manors," James' father said.

"Helen Potter," James' mother said with a smile.

The sound of a train whistle made them all jump.

"Guess it's time to go," Sirius said, looking around and noticing the platform was largely devoid of students, "let's go find a compartment."

"Okay, bye Mum, bye Dad," James hugged each of his parents in turn.

"Goodbye James, be good."

"And write at least once a week,"

James faked a grimace and gave an overdramatic sigh "Yes Mother," then his smile returned, "See you at Christmas!" He and Sirius gathered their belongings and hurried onto the train.

"Anyone you want to find to sit with?" Sirius asked as they made their way down the train, looking into the compartment windows for a suitable place.

"Nah, do you know anyone?"

Sirius thought of the other pureblooded children his mother would invite over for 'little play dates' and suppressed a shudder, "nobody I'd want to sit with."

"How about here?" James asked, pausing at a compartment mostly filled with boys, the oldest of whom couldn't be more than third years.

"Kind of crowded, especially cause we don't know any of them, let's see if there's anything else."

The pair moved further down the train, and Sirius began to think that perhaps they ought to go back to the compartment with all the boys when they found one whose only occupant was a small girl with long straight brown hair whose forehead was resting on the window. The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. James shoved the door open and stepped in.

"Mind if we sit here?"

The girl turned, and Sirius would have taken a step back if there had been anywhere for him to go. She had slightly large amazingly green eyes that seemed to hold something more than most eyes do, and for a moment Sirius found himself unable to look away from them. Almost as an afterthought he noticed that she was fairly pale and had a scar on the right side of her face, running beneath her eye and almost to the top of her ear.

"Of course," she said, although it sounded slightly strained to Sirius' well trained ears, "sit," and she motioned to the benches around her as if they were hers but she didn't mind anyone sitting on them.

James seemed to be at as much of a loss as Sirius, and they both sat down rather hesitantly, Sirius' joyous mood broken by this odd girl. But never baffled for long, Sirius thought to play the host as he had seen so many do before. "I'm Sirius, and this is James."

"Aribeth."

"Are you a first year?"

Aribeth only nodded. While she didn't avoid looking at Sirius or James, Aribeth's eyes didn't seem to focus on anything. Perhaps she couldn't see very well? But then why wouldn't she get glasses?

"What house do you want to be in?" James asked from beside Sirius, "I want to be in Gryffindor, just like my father."

"Me too," Sirius supplied promptly, "well, the wanting to be in Gryffindor thing." His entire family had been in Slytherin, and Sirius knew that if he made it into Gryffindor his mother would hopefuly die from shock.

"I don't remember the houses." Aribeth spoke as if it was painful.

"Well," James began, apparently eager to show off his knowledge, "there's Ravenclaw, where all of the brain-iacs go – Hufflepuff, apparently their kind and honest but I've heard a lot of them are pushovers – Slytherin, which is pretty much just evil – and Gryffindor. Gryffindor is the best, it's where everyone brave goes, and their animal is the lion."

The three continued to talk as the Hogwarts Express sped it's way to Hogwarts. Well, mostly just Sirius and James talked, with Aribeth occasionally adding a thing or two. The more Aribeth talked the more Sirius became sure there was an odd ring to her voice, besides the fact that she seemed hesitant to talk. Perhaps she was foreign? And once she started at something and closed her eyes muttering under her breath before throwing herself into the conversation as though it was desperately important. Then she slowly sank back into her usual if strange state. What was with her?

The train slowed as it pulled into Hogsmeade station. "Come on, let's go," James said, standing and pulling on Sirius' arm to make him follow him. "I can't wait to see Hogwarts, plus my dad says that there is an opening feast and I'm starving." Sirius laughed, he and James had bought a pile of sweets when a lady with a trolley had come by. James had eaten over half of them.

James and Sirius stepped out of their compartment and into the throng of black clad students making their way off the train. Aribeth came out behind them, but she got swept away by the crowd. Sirius didn't really mind, he had found her presence unnerving.

xXxXx

Aribeth let the sea of robed students move her along, not really noticing any of their faces. She considered trying to catch up with the two boys, James and Sirius, but she didn't want to force her presence upon them, she knew she likely wasn't good company. And she was tired. It had taken a lot of energy to keep up with the boy's lively conversation, and even more to add her own comments to it. It had been so long since she had concentrated on anything happening in the present, and she had even slipped once. Now Aribeth fought to keep herself in the haze that she had become so familiar with. Although not connecting to anything around her, at least it kept the past out, for the most part.

AN: And I'm back for another stab at writing. This time goes out to Tsu-Ze Haitsuchi who wrote me a lovely review that somehow managed to spark my long dead interest.

This story is basically Another Marauder for any of you who have read it, however in the three year hiatus that I took, Aribeth has developed and I have more of her pinned down (a large task if you have ever asked for one). For the most part the details are the same, just more concrete. At first I was just going to go to Another Marauder and tweak some of the things that have changed, but rereading it made me want to bang my head on the keyboard. I do hope that my writing has improved somewhat since then. At any rate I decided to throw it out and start anew. I make no promises on how often I will update or if I will even finish this story either but I will do my best, and would be encouraged by reviews (hint hint)

And most chapters will be longer then this but I am going out of town soon and my computer time may be limited, and I wanted to get this out for Tsu-Ze Haitsuchi.

One more thing (I will also work on not making the AN's as long as the chapters) Ari is extremely down in the dumps right now, but that is far from permanent, it just needs to start out that way. She should be the marauder of Another Marauder well before Christmas (story time).


	2. Chapter 2

"First years, this way!"

Remus jumped at the booming voice and looked around, it wasn't hard to tell who spoke. An enormous man with a shaggy black beard was holding a lantern in one hand and motioning first years to come towards him with the other. Remus was about to step forwards towards the man when the sound of his name made him turn.

"Remus, Remus wait for me," it was one of the boys that Remus had sat with on the train. Peter was his name, Peter Pettigrew. He was a rather round boy, and he was panting by the time he reached Remus' side. "Sorry, I was," Peter was interrupted by the large man with the lantern calling for first years again. Peter's eyes widened at the sight of him. "What does he want with the first years?" Peter asked, sounding frightened, as if the large man wanted to eat all of the first years for his own start of term feast.

Remus on the other hand was almost relived to see someone else obviously abnormal. Maybe Remus wouldn't stand out as much as he feared. "He probably works here Peter, I doubt Dumbledore would let anyone dangerous near the students, come on." And Remus started again towards the big man. Peter looked from Remus to the man, trying to muster courage most likely, then hurried to catch up with Remus.

xXxXx

A loud gruff voice booming out of the crowd penetrated Aribeth's haze slightly, but not enough for her to register what was being said. As though moving through water Aribeth slowly raised her head to the speaker. He was gigantic…and not human. At least not fully, there was a sense of strength and rock about him. If she wanted to, she could probably have figured out more, but not caring had gotten Aribeth through a lot.

Somebody pushed her, "Oy! First years go to that way. Didn't you hear Hagrid?" Aribeth broke away from the main group of students to follow the smaller train of eleven year olds down a winding path. Hagrid. Was that the large not all the way human man who had yelled something over the crowd? Aribeth resolved herself to pay more attention to her surroundings lest she miss something important.

She blinked hard, willing her eyes to focus. Water. A lake. That was where the large man, Hagrid, was leading them. She thought that they were going to the Hogwarts castle, not a lake. Aribeth let her sight blur in favor of hearing, but no one seemed to be saying anything, instead concentrating on keeping their footing on the rough sloping terrain.

"Remus," a voice hissed somewhere behind Aribeth, "where is he taking us?"

"Relax Peter," this must be Remus, "we're just going to the castle by boat instead of by carriage so that we can get the best first look."

Well, she didn't seem to have missed much. That was good.

"Come along now, no more then four to a boat." It was the same gruff voice of before, although this time Aribeth heard what was said. Somebody had given him a name. Hagrid. That was it. With a great effort Aribeth dragged all of her senses into the present and began looking for a boat to get into. She noticed the two boys she had ridden with, James and Sirius they were called, but they were already in a boat with two other boys. She cast her gaze about and found a boat with only two occupants, a redheaded girl and a black haired boy. Aribeth took a deep breath, ignoring the pain that came with it as she always did, and approached the two.

"Have room for me?" The pair already in the boat turned. The boy looked Aribeth up and down with a slight frown but the girl smiled widely.

"Sure," she said, "come on in, I'm Lily, and this is Severus." Aribeth had found yet another chatterbox, and she wasn't sure if she was relived or disappointed. She knew that she had to make friends if she was going to stand any chance at all, but it took so much effort. Ah well, she had resolved herself to do her best with anyone she met in case there was a fate pulling her towards who would help her the most.

Aribeth swallowed the block that seemed a permanent fixture of her throat so that she could reply, "Aribeth."

"I'm so excited about starting Hogwarts aren't you? I can still hardly belive that it is real. I'm muggle born, so magic is so, well magical to me. But at least I had some warning. Severus here found out that I was a witch and told me about Hogwarts and stuff. What about you? Are your parents magical?"

"No." This was of course a very complicated question. Saying yes would mean that Aribeth had knowledge of how Hogwarts or other magical schools worked, something that she most certainly did not have. No was the safest answer she could give, although it wasn't completely accurate.

"Then we're on equal footing. Well, not Severus, his mum is a witch, but…whoa!" Lily was interrupted by the boats launching themselves from the shore and starting off towards the castle.

xXxXx

"What's making these boats go?"

"Magic, Peter."

"Oh, right." Remus and Peter had gotten into a boat with two girls who were rather giggly for Remus' liking. One had curling ginger hair with freckles and the other brown cropped to her chin. Instead of introducing themselves when he and Peter had climbed into the last boat with two spots left open the two girls had instead whispered behind their hands, giggling and pointing. Remus had found the ritual so unnerving that he had forgotten the tell them who he and Peter were (although he had known Peter for only a short time Remus doubted that Peter would take up such a large action as making introductions). Now it seemed far to late for any name exchanges to be made, and Remus instead answered the questions that Peter seemed to have about everything. He didn't really mind, one of Remus' favorite things to do with his parents was pretending that he was at Hogwarts. They had told him every detail about arriving at Hogwarts and attending classes, thinking that Remus would never be able to go himself. When Dumbledore had told them that he was making sure that Remus could go to Hogwarts after all, Remus couldn't wait to see if anything had changed since his parents had been in school. He remembered his parents stories of the lake, and the giant squid that resided in it, and began to scan the dark waters for any sign of it.

"What are you looking for Remus?"

"The giant squid."

"The what?" Peter squeaked, looking around nervously even the two girls were mercifully silent.

"The giant squid that lives in the lake. Don't worry Peter, he's harmless, at least to the students. I wouldn't recommend going swimming in the lake if you've recently been turned into a fish but other than that I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Peter chuckled, and looked less nervous, but he seemed to be carefully sitting as far from the sides of the boat as possible. Remus was trying to think of how to politely phrase a question asking why Peter seemed to know so little of Hogwarts workings when more feminine tittering made him grit his teeth. Honestly, was there some sort of defect that made girls need to giggle to remain living?

xXxXx

James had to stifle a laugh when the boy in the boat next to his began to shake at the mention of the giant squid in the lake. Honestly, didn't everyone know about the squid? And even if they didn't why would they think Dumbldore would let the first years be in any danger. He may be old but he wasn't senile. Not by a long shot.

"What's so funny?" David asked. David and his twin brother Marcus were the other two boys in James and Sirius' boat. Although they were twins Marcus was lankier then David, and his hair was darker.

"That boy over there is scared of the squid." James said, pointing at the rather round boy now sitting smack in the middle of his boat, as if getting six inches further from the waters edge would save him from danger.

"Well it is rather large." Marcus said sagely.

"And docile," countered David, "you remember Mum saying that when those Slytherins flung her bag in the lake the squid threw it back out to her?"

"Really?" Sirius interrupted, "cool, does anyone have anything we could throw in?"

"I don't think the squid should be used as a reliable retrieval service Sirius." James said.

"We could throw scaredy boy in, that would make him see the squid is nothing to be afraid of." Sirius said with a wicked grin, charity obviously not being his motivation.

"Or it would traumatize him for life." Marcus pointed out. Sirius shrugged.

"Heads down!" Hagrid bellowed over the water, and everybody ducked under the rocky outcropping, ivy tickling the backs of their necks. As they straightened, many gasped as they saw Hogwarts. Although James' parents had described Hogwarts to him many times, it was nothing like seeing it in person. It was huge, with windows shinning with lights and turrets like fingers reaching up into the sky.

The boats docked in a small cave by the water, hitting the shore with a soft thump, and students clambered out of their boats, careful not to let their robes drag in the water.

"Follow me!" Hagrid called, holding his lantern high, and he set off down yet another path, whistling jovially. The first years fell in behind him, their shoes crunching satisfactorily on the pebbly shore.

"We're not going on a nature walk are we?" Sirius asked with fake concern, "I don't think that I could make it that long."

"Too weak to walk long distances?" James joked.

"Too hungry."

"Ah, so he's malnourished." David said.

"Don't tell me your not hungry," Sirius retorted, "It's been ages since lunch."

"Well hopefully you won't wither too much," Marcus said, "Even when we get to the castle we still have to be sorted."

"Yeah, sorting," James couldn't believe he had forgotten, "does anybody know how we get sorted?" variations of no were the only answers that met James' ears.

xXxXx

Peter walked alongside Remus, having to jog a few steps sometimes to keep up. He couldn't believe he was finally at Hogwarts. He had been worried that he didn't have enough magic to be let in, he hadn't done any accidental magic until he was nine, and that was just making a box of cereal fly out of his cousins hands at Christmastime, but it hadn't reached Peter either, and so the last of the cereal had ended up scattered on the floor.

A group of boys in front of him were talking about sorting. That was something that worried Peter as well. What if the sorting was something too difficult for him to do, and they decided that he couldn't come to Hogwarts after all? Peter wanted to ask Remus, but he was worried he was becoming a bother. Peter didn't have any real friends at home, most people found him annoying and stupid. Remus didn't seem to think so, but he hadn't known him that long. What if Remus got tired of him too? What if Peter never made any friends at Hogwarts? If he even got into Hogwarts at all. Finally Peter blurted out, "Do you know how we get sorted?"

Remus didn't look annoyed, that was good. In fact, he looked rather thoughtful. "Well, yes, but I don't think I should really tell anyone, I don't think I am aloud to know myself."

"Why not?" Peter asked before he could stop himself. Remus winced, and Peter was afraid. Was he prying again?

"Well, no one thought I would be able to go to Hogwarts, so my parents told me." Remus said slowly.

Peter was amazed. Remus didn't think he would get to come to Hogwarts either? Was he barely magical just like him? Remus seemed so smart though. But still, why else would he not be able to come to Hogwarts? They accepted anyone with magic didn't they?

"No one thought I could get in to Hogwarts either, but here we are!" Peter said.

"Yeah," Remus replied, but he seemed to be thinking of something else.

Peter was silent for a moment, mulling over this latest piece of knowledge. But then his thoughts returned to the matter at hand, "I know you can't tell me what it is but…" Peter hesitated, "is it possible to…fail sorting?"

"To what?"

"Fail sorting…" Peter's voice dropped to a whisper, "and be sent home?"

"No," Remus said, a genuine smile on his face, "don't worry, sorting is just what it sounds like, you're being sorted into one of the four houses, not tested to be admitted to Hogwarts. Remember what your Hogwarts letter said? 'You've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' not, 'you might have been accepted to Hogwarts come on down and see."

Peter laughed, feeling relived. It did make sense now. They wouldn't have you prepare for an entire year at Hogwarts just to be thrown back out again. If there was any possibility that someone would not be accepted they would have been tested well before this point.

Suddenly Peter realized that they had reached the foot of the castle. "Here we are," the giant named Hagrid called, pushing a set a double doors open, "Hogwarts."

Peter couldn't decide what was more beautiful, the outside of Hogwarts, or its interior. The entrance hall that the first year students had just entered was huge. However Peter's joy was slightly tinged with horror as he noticed how many doors led off this one room. How would he ever find his way around this place? He had nearly gotten lost trying to go around his own block.

"Come on now," Hagrid said, a large grin on his face, "if we all stand here starring we'll miss the feast."

That seemed to grab some people attention, especially a tall black haired boy who called out "I don't think I'd survive without it!" A messy haired kid with glasses standing next to him wacked him lightly on the back of the head, and said something that Peter couldn't hear.

Once again the first years trooped on behind Hagrid, many still gazing around. Peter was craning around trying to count the door and hallways that led out of the entrance hall, so he didn't notice the short brown haired girl until he ran into her. The girl spun and her arm twitched strangely before she saw him and seemed to deflate.

"Sorry," Peter said, utterly baffled by this girl's odd reaction, and he thought he was nervous. It was then that he noticed her strikingly green eyes and a scar on the right side of her face.

"It's alright," she said, before turning and continuing to follow Hagrid. Peter couldn't be sure, but he thought there was something strange about that girl's voice. A redhead standing next to her whispered something, and the girl said something back. Peter hoped that he hadn't made enemies already. He really hadn't meant to do anything, but people had always been less forgiving of his mistakes then other peoples.

xXxXx

The train of first years stopped when they reached the entrance hall of Hogwarts, abandoning walking to stare openmouthed and unabashed at the grandeur of Hogwarts. Aribeth could care less what the castle looked like, but she looked around anyway to prevent her mind from slipping into the past. At least there was nothing too gaudy and unnecessary. Useless shows of wealth had always annoyed her. At Hagrid's call they all set off once more, Aribeth making sure to stay near Lily and Severus. She couldn't keep disappearing on who she was making conversation with. Severus was expalaining his theory on sorting to Lily when someone ran into Aribeth. She spun, her hand automatically twitching for her robesleeve when the round and horrified face of the eleven year old boy who had just bumped into her reminded Aribeth were she was.

"Sorry," he stammered, looking as though she was going to punch him. Unfortunately that fear wasn't as unfounded as many would believe that it would be.

"It's alright," Aribeth said while mentally berating herself, and she turned back to try to get back into Severus' explanation.

"You alright?" Lily whispered.

"Fine," and they both turned their attention back to Severus. He looked slightly peeved at being interrupted, but when he saw that he had their attention again he continued with his sorting hypothesis.

The first years paused as Hagrid pushed open another door, this one smaller than the large double doors they had used to enter the hall. "Brought you somethin' Professor," Hagrid said as he stepped back to let the students file past him into a small side chamber with only one door leading out of it. Inside the room was a tall severe looking woman with graying brown hair tied back in a tight bun. She wore emerald green robes and surveyed the first years, whose looks of wonder were slowly being replaced by those of fear.

"Thank you Hagrid," said the woman. Hagrid nodded his head at her and closed the door behind the last of the first years. The woman then turned to attention to the entire room. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "I am Professor McGonagall. Now, when you pass through these doors you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. These houses will become your home, and you will be rewarded with house points for all good deeds you will do, and will be docked points for any troublemaking you might do. I trust all of you are smart enough to make the right decisions with regards to that." She looked around at the first years again; quite a few of them had begun visibly shaking. "Follow me."

xXxXx

"I think the point of this first day is to give everyone a heart attack," Sirius muttered to James as Professor McGonagall led them into the great hall, which had produced more gasps from everyone. Sirius himself kept being awed by what he was seeing, and he was used to grand showings, he couldn't even imagine what everyone else was feeling.

"Yeah, no kidding," James whispered back.

The first years were marched between two of the long tables in the great hall to reach what Sirius could only assume was the head table, as it was elevated on a step above the rest of the hall and was filled with teachers not older students. In addition to experiencing heart stopping wonder every five seconds Sirius was also getting tired of being led around like a dog on a string. Of course, since none of them had ever been to Hogwarts nobody had any idea where they should go or how they should get there, but Sirius had never liked feeling lost or useless, preferring to blaze his own trail, even if there was a chance of failing spectacularly.

Speaking of failing, Sirius was hoping to fail his parents in the most prominent way he had yet managed, being sorted into Gryffindor. He knew that students were sorted in some ultra-fair way, but he couldn't help but hope there was some way to skew his own sorting to guarantee getting into his house of choice. Sirius looked around, looking for some sign of the test they were about to face. He knew it was unlikely to be a written test; that would be too easy to mess up on. Perhaps they had to go crystal gazing, or have the divination teacher crystal gaze for them, as it was unlikely that any first years could successfully do it on their own. But sitting on a stool directly in front of the line of first years was not a crystal ball, but a very old looking hat. Well that was…did the hat just move? Sirius blinked, and sure enough, a tear at the hats brim opened like a mouth and the hat began to…sing?

_Well welcome all you students_

_To a brand new Hogwarts year_

_There is no point in being frightened_

_For you see I am nothing to fear._

_I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I think I am rather wise_

_I will tell you were you belong_

_But of course that is no surprise._

_Each of you possess special traits_

_These traits to make you strong_

_And I can tell you what they are_

_For I am never wrong._

_If it is kindness that you preach_

_And hard work that you do_

_Then I think that Hufflepuff_

_Would be the house for you._

_No lazy bones or angry men_

_Who think greed with get them far_

_Instead a steady hand and steadfast will_

_Make Hufflepuffs a star._

_Unless perhaps your mind is quick_

_And puzzles cannot be left unsolved_

_Then Ravenclaw is where I'll put you_

_To that I'm quite resolved._

_For that in that house its brain not brawn_

_That is the key to success_

_So Ravenclaw is where you'll be_

_You'll suffer no duress._

_But cunning folk, you know who you are_

_You think of where you'll be_

_And it's in Slytherin you'll meet your like_

_If you just wait and see._

_Your futures you are planning_

_For your rise you cannot wait_

_In Slytherin you will go far_

_You will not wait for fate._

_And finally I happen to know_

_A house meant for the brave_

_This house is known as Gryffindor_

_And Gryffindor hearts don't waive._

_They stand up to all danger_

_And don't back away from foes_

_A Gryffindor will fight for all_

_And battle everyone's woes._

_Now surely you can see yourself_

_In one of the houses in my song_

_But if you cannot, you have nothing to fear_

_For I know where you belong._

_If you just step right up to my little stool_

_And place me on your head_

_I can tell you who you are _

_And in which house you will bed._

_I have not yet been wrong_

_Or if I have no ones complained_

_I may be old, but dull I'm not_

_In fact, I'm rather famed._

Wild applause broke out all over the great hall, although there was significantly less by the first years as many of them seemed completely bewildered by a singing hat. Even Sirius was rather amazed. He had seen inanimate objects perform actions when being controlled by a wizard, but for a hat to apparently have a mind of its own? As far as he knew that was unheard of. Except for everyone had heard of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat. Why had no one tired to replicate it? And how did it choose what house you were sorted into? Sirius had no idea how to make sure he would be in Gryffindor, because he _had_ to be in Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall stepped up behind the Sorting Hat, holding a scroll in her hand. "When I call your name, come up and sit on the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. When it calls out your house, go join your fellow housemates." She unrolled the scroll and called out, "Abram, Mackenzie!"

Sirius panicked. They were going in alphabetical order, and Black was very near to the beginning of the alphabet. He wouldn't have time to figure out a plan.

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat called out, and Mackenzie jumped off the stool to join the Ravenclaw table.

"Agar, Justin!"

What could he do? He had no idea how the hat worked, and no useful magical abilities yet.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

What could he do?

"Alagondar, Aribeth."

Sirius looked up. It was the girl in their compartment. The hat was so incredibly large on the tiny girl that it sank almost to her shoulders when McGonagall put it on her. Sirius abandoned his pointless plotting to watch. He found himself extremely curious as to where Aribeth would be sorted. She was so strange; she didn't seem to fit in any of the houses. Maybe she was really smart, and that was why she was so weird. Sirius had heard that sometimes geniuses had trouble connecting to the rest of the world. Yes, Ravenclaw was where she would be.

"GRYFFINDOR!" wow, not what he had been expecting. This girl was brave? She barely seemed to know what was going on! Ravenclaw, perhaps Hufflepuff, but not Gryffindor. Well, maybe it wasn't so hard to get into Gryffindor after all. It had to be brave that he was trying to break away from such an old family. Yes, that was it! That was his ticket to getting into Gryffindor, he would just…

"Black, Sirius!"

Several profanities came to Sirius' mind as the elation he had just been experiencing evaporated.

"Good luck, Sirius," James whispered at Sirius' back as he walked woodenly up to the stool, Professor McGonagall, and the Hat she had in her hand that all of his future happiness depended on. Sirius reached the stool and turned. For a second, he thought he had lost the ability to bend his knees, then he lost the ability not to and he fell rather hard on the small three-legged stool. He got a brief look at one thousand pairs of eyes on him before the Sorting Hat blocked out everything.

'Another from the Noble House of Black I see,' said a voice inside his head, nearly making him fall off the stool. The hat read their minds, and talked to them! That's how they were sorted!

'I may be from the House of Black but I'm not like them,'

'Oh that much is very plain, as most Black's want to further their house, not raze it to the ground.'

'You would want to as well if you had been raised in that creaky old house,'

'Perhaps. But now the question is not of the merits of your families house, but of your Hogwarts house. You know, all of your plotting ways would be welcome in Slytherin.'

'NO!' Sirius shouted in his mind, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching the sides of the stool that he sat on, 'Not Slytherin, Gryffindor.'

'Yes, you are very adamant in that fact aren't you? You did also come up with a very valid point, it is brave to show open aggression to such a powerful opponent, and I do believe that putting you in one house would put you on a very different tract then putting you in another. Now, I'm not supposed to be biased, however…'

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius let out a whoop of joy as he whipped the Sorting Hat off of his head and charged toward the Gryffindor table.

xXxXx

AN: Hello, I'm back, and much sooner than anticipated! I hope you don't mind all of the different viewpoint switches, there might be less of these when everyone is hanging out together but I am making no guarantee's with this story. I'd like to thank everyone who added this to their favorites or alerts, but I would be much more grateful if you would review, as _nobody_ reviewed my last chapter. Reviewing makes me write faster!


	3. Chapter 3

Two girls who looked to be about eight years old were running up a grassy green hill, sunlight glinting off of their golden hair.

The one in the lead turned back to the other and called, "Come on Ana, I don't want to leave you behind!"

The world spun and the sun went out. The grassy hill was replaced with a dank corridor and the girl in the lead aged fifteen years in an instant, and her hair turned as white as freshly fallen snow. A high pitched scream of pain and horror ripped through the air.

"Ana!" the white haired woman cried, "Ana where are you?" She charged down the corridor toward the scream, but then her way was blocked by a heavy black door. "Ana!" she screamed again, pulling and banging on the door, "Ana, hold on, I'll help you!" Maybe there was another way in, the woman turned to try to find another way, but her path was blocked by another woman. This woman would could have been considered beautiful, with pale skin and golden hair, but her face was twisted in rage.

"You turn away again!" she screamed, "What happened to 'I don't want to leave you behind'? You left me to die to save yourself!"

"No, no I didn't!" the white haired woman sobbed, "I didn't, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"You were too late to save me, you're always to LATE!" the blonde woman cry turned into a high pitched scream and a line of blood appeared around her neck and began dripping down her shirt.

"NO!"

Aribeth sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. She clutched her knees to her chest and sobbed as her heart pounded its familiar painful tattoo on her chest. Finally she opened her eyes and flinched back at the red surrounding her, thinking she was still caught in her own mind. Then she remembered where she was, and that the red was only the crimson hangings of her four poster bed. Aribeth took a deep breath, then opened the curtains, praying there was no one on the other side. Luck was with her, as there was nobody in the room but her four sleeping roommates.

Silently, Aribeth got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom off of the dormitory. Aribeth closed the door with a soft click and turned to the sink. She jumped backward and shut her eyes when she saw the bloodstained blonde woman in the mirror, then quickly opened them when her screaming face appeared behind her eyelids. Aribeth was alone again, breathing hard, her back pressed against the door. She walked shakily to the sink and turned on the water, splashing her sweaty face. She then grabbed the towel from its loop affixed to the wall to dry herself off. When she lowered it, she studied her face, not missing that her serious expression looked completely out of place on an eleven year old girl. Then again that had always been her problem, being too old for her years. Now she just felt too old for everything.

Aribeth left the bathroom and glanced at the clock on her bedside table, it was just before two in the morning. She opened her trunk, looking for something to keep her mind occupied. She wasn't very tired anymore, and she knew that the moment she closed her eyes she would see everything again. Aribeth grabbed the first book she came across and a flashlight, then climbed back into her bed and pulled the curtains closed.

Aribeth flipped on the flashlight to find that the book she had picked was transfiguration. She opened it and began carefully reading every page. Concentrating on the words in the book alone until she could hardly keep her eyes open. Aribeth shoved the curtain on her bed aside just enough to put the book and flashlight on her bedside table and blearily noticed that is was just past three thirty. Hopefully she would be able to get close enough to the morning when she fell asleep again. Aribeth let the curtain fall back into place and put her head on the pillow. Immediately she was asleep.

It was four thirty before she began to twitch and moan.

xXxXx

What was that annoying beeping sound? James rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head to try to block it out. It didn't work.

"Who set an alarm?" a muffled Sirius cried out. It took James a moment to realize that the reason he sounded muffled was because he had a pillow over his ear. James sat up and blinked against the blinding light that was coming in from the window. A blob was moving around the bed next to his but he couldn't get his eyes to focus on who it was. Oh, right, glasses. The blob became one of his roommates, Remus Lupin, who was now rummaging through his trunk and looking far more awake then anyone had a right to in the morning. At least the beeping had stopped.

"How else was I supposed to make sure we didn't sleep through our first class?" Remus said calmly, selecting a pair of black robes from his trunk.

"We have classes _today?_" Sirius groaned. James turned to look at him, and sniggered. Sirius' perfect hair of yesterday was disheveled from sleep and lines from the creases of his pillow ran down one side of his face.

"Of course we have classes today." Remus said simply, "What did you expect to do? Laze around all day?" and he got up and went into the bathroom.

"Well, yeah," Sirius said as he watched Remus shut the door. Sirius groaned and fell back onto his pillow.

James just sighed, having accepted getting up was inevitable, and stumbled out of bed to his own trunk.

"Does anybody know what classes we have today?" asked James' fourth and final roommate, Peter Pettigrew. There were supposed to be five in every dormitory, but this year they were one short.

"I think we find that out at breakfast," James said, knowing that there was little chance Sirius would answer.

James shifted through the contents of his trunk, trying to remember all of the components of his uniform, but his brain wasn't quite functioning yet. He laid his head down on a pile of clothes inside his trunk, and thought about what a great pillow they made. The bathroom door open and shut, but James didn't open his eyes to see who went in; although it was quite likely it was Peter.

"You know, I don't know how long they serve breakfast, and I would hate to miss it," Remus said offhandedly. James sat bolt upright, and a loud thump from behind him made him believe that Sirius had fallen out of bed.

"You don't think that's a possibility do you?" Sirius asked, sounding extremely worried.

"Well I have no idea," Remus' voice was extremely innocent, "I've never been to Hogwarts, have you?" 

Sirius scrambled to untangle himself from the pile of sheets on the floor and began to haphazardly select pieces of uniform from his trunk and jam them on while James followed suit. When James was still trying to pull his shirt on over his glasses Sirius sprinted to the bathroom.

As James finished lacing his second shoe he called out, "Come on, Sirius, food!"

"Two seconds James!"

"Has anyone seen my left shoe?" Peter asked, on his hands and knees peering under his bed.

Remus helped Peter while James felt his head to see if his hair was sticking up in any strange way, which it was. He smoothed it down, felt it spring back up, and James decided to leave it there, because that was probably how it was going to stay no matter what he did.

Just as Remus located Peter's shoe (under Sirius' bed) Sirius emerged from the bathroom, his hair immaculately groomed.

"How did you do that?" James asked, astonished.

Sirius just shrugged, "Practice."

"Does anybody actually know how to get to the Great Hall?" Peter asked as the four boys trooped down the stairs to the common room.

"We were there last night, we'll just go back the way we came," said Sirius lightly.

"I don't remember how we got here," Peter said, sounding nervous.

"Neither do I," said both Remus and James.

"Well I do, I have always been good at remembering how to get around places I've been to, come on," and they all followed Sirius out of the portrait hole and (hopefully) towards breakfast.

As they walked James looked around, carefully making note of what they were passing to see if anything was familiar from the night before and so that he could start learning his own way around the castle. When they walked by a large portrait of a witch with a hairdo so astonishing that James knew they couldn't have passed it last night James knew that Sirius was just as lost as everyone else was. He was just about to open his mouth to make this point when they rounded a corner and there in front of them were the double doors leading into the Great Hall.

"Are you sure that was the way we came?" asked James.

"Yes." Sirius said slowly, "how else could we have gotten here?"

"We passed a portrait that I know we didn't before, with this witch with hair-"

"That looks like a great bird landed on her head and stayed there, with a beak and everything?" Sirius interrupted, "she was one of my landmarks to get us here, so yeah, we went that way last night, James, you're just really unobservant."

"Great," James mumbled as the four entered the hall and found seats together at the noisy Gryffindor table.

"All right, bacon!" Sirius said as he sat down, and he promptly began shoveling mass quantities of bacon onto his plate. He then looked around to see if there was any syrup when he noticed three pairs of raised eyebrows staring at him. "What?"

"Let me guess," Remus said, his face straight his voice even, "you like bacon."

"Well," Sirius said defensively, "I don't get it very often, not civilized enough or something."

"What's uncivilized about bacon?" James asked incredulously.

"I don't know but 'proper purebloods' don't eat bacon" Sirius snorted at his own mocking voice.

"I'm sure if you asked you could get some bacon in a to-go bag," Peter said. For a moment, the other three just stared, not quite sure if he was being serious or not, then Peter started to chuckle, which set off the other three, and they all began to laugh uproariously.

"First year schedules," the four boys turned wiping there streaming eyes, and accepted the proffered schedules from a fifth year prefect who was looking at them a little strangely.

"Thanks," Remus called as the prefect turned to leave.

"So what have we got," Sirius mussed as he looked over the piece of parchment in his hands, "charms first, I don't suppose anyone knows where that is?"

"We didn't even know how to get to breakfast, Sirius," James said, "and we've been here before, what are the chances that we can get someplace we haven't been to?"

"True, hey you," Sirius nudged the fourth year he was sitting next to, "any idea how to get to charms?"

xXxXx

"I swear this is where he said that charms is," Sirius said as the four boys were peering into classrooms hoping to find one full of first year Gryffindors.

"My parents said that sometimes the classrooms switch around," said Remus.

"You mean the teachers switch rooms?" asked Peter.

"No, the rooms switch themselves, like the changing staircases."

"Awesome," smiled James.

"Awesomely confusing," muttered Peter.

"Don't worry Pete," said Sirius, slapping Peter lightly on the back, "stick with us and we'll get you were your going, or we'll all get detention together.

xxx

In the end it was Peter who found their first class of the year, as it was him who spotted a couple of first years going into a classroom down a side corridor. They had made it with only a minute to spare, but when class was supposed to start the room was only half full.

"It's often like this the first couple of days," said their teacher, Professor Flitwick, cheerfully. He was the shortest adult anyone had seen, and, as Sirius pointed out, likely had some goblin blood, or maybe house elf.

The four boys had taken seats in the back of the room and sitting next to Peter was the strange girl, Aribeth, from the train.

"We'll start in five minutes," Professor Flitwick squeaked, "hopefully most of your classmates will have found their way here by then, and those that haven't I'm sure you will be most happy to fill in later."

"I told you fifteenth time's the charm,"

"Or the charms classroom."

Remus turned to see the Grant twins, David and Marcus coming into the room.

"Hey you two," called Sirius, who was also twisted around in his seat, "I see you made it."

"Just barely, Sirius" said David, him and Marcus sitting in the seats in front of Aribeth, who, Remus noticed, was staring at the twins with a strange look in her eye. It almost looked like fear, but why would she be afraid of David and Marcus?

"All right," call Professor Flitwick, drawing attention to the head of the class, "let's see who made it shall we?" and he began calling out attendance.

xXxXx

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for dinner," said Sirius as the four boys their way back up to the castle from the greenhouses that they had just finished their Herbology lesson in.

"Sirius," said James in mock annoyance, "I have known you for twenty-four hours and in those twenty-four hours you have consumed enough food to feed a third world country, complaining that you were hungry all the while."

"So I like to eat, what's the problem with that?"

"Oh no," interrupted Peter, "wait here, I left my bag in the greenhouse," and he turned and hurried back.

"Well well well, what do you know, it's the black sheep of the Black family," sneered a voice from behind the three remaining boys. They all turned to see a tall sixth year with platinum blonde hair looking at them like one often looks at the thing that has just died under your front porch.

"What do you want Malfoy," Sirius growled, curling his fingers into fists.

"Now now Black, there's no need to be rude, I'm just here to deliver something to your lovely Professor Sprout," he held up a roll of parchment. "Well, I really must be going, I just wanted to give my condolences to the Black family for the loss of their first born." Malfoy turned to leave just as Sirius muttered something under his breath. "I would be careful what you say, Black, I am a prefect you know." And he continued on to the greenhouses.

"Don't listen to him Sirius," James said consolingly, "he's just some git who thinks he's better than everyone else because he can trace his family back to the dinosaurs."

"It really isn't that hard," said Sirius, reining his temper back in, "his family are dinosaurs."

xXxXx

Peter slid the door to the greenhouse open, hurriedly trying to locate his forgotten bag before the others left without him. People tended to leave him behind, sometimes out of spite but other times because they forgot he was supposed to be with them. Professor Sprout looked up from the plant she was examining.

"Do you need something?" she asked with a smile.

"No, well, just my bag, I left it in here."

Peter went to the table that he had been working at, and bent down to retrieve his bag that he had thrown under it at the beginning of class. He squeaked and jumped back when he saw there was already a person underneath the table.

"Sorry," it was the short girl he had bumped into the night before, she had also sat next to him in charms, "I spilled everything out of my bag when I picked it up, and most of it rolled under here." Sure enough in addition to his own bag books, parchment, and quills littered the dirty greenhouse floor.

"What happened to those girls you came in with?"

"They left without me, I have…trouble making groups remember I am there."

"Me too," said Peter, helping her gather her things together. "Well at least your ink bottles didn't break."

"Yeah, thanks for helping," said the girl as she slid the last book back into her bag. They both crawled out from under the table and slung their bags over their shoulders. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name."

"It's Peter, and that's fine, I was just trying to figure out how to ask for yours."

"Aribeth."

The sound of a door closing made Peter jump, Professor Sprout must have left, because he and Aribeth were now alone in the greenhouse.

"Want to eat with me and my friends at dinner?" asked Peter, "well, I hope my friends waited for me at any rate."

"Sure."

They left the greenhouse, Peter trying to look past the next greenhouse to see if Remus, Sirius, and James were still waiting for him. That was probably why he didn't noticed the foot the stuck out to trip him, sending him sprawling face first in the dirt.

"You really should watch where you are going," a voice drawled from above him, "here, let me help you," and someone grabbed his arm painfully tight and pulled him too his feet, nearly wrenching his arm out of his socket.

"Let go of me," Peter mumbled, not looking at his tormentor in the face, noticing only that he was a great deal taller than him and had a lot of silvery blonde hair. Peter had experience with bullies, and although everyone said that you should stand up to them, because there really afraid to, in his experience, standing up to bullies made them bully you harder.

"I'm just trying to be polite the least you could to is, arg!"

The hand on his arm let go, and Peter looked to see that Aribeth had twisted the taller boys arm behind his back. "He said, let him go," she growled, and then she released his arm as well.

"We'll see if I'll ever be that courteous to you too again," the older boy sneered, rubbing his arm, then he stalked away.

"You didn't have to do that," Peter muttered, not looking at Aribeth.

"You helped me," Aribeth said simply.

"But, that was easy."

"So was this,"

"But, but, he could make your life miserable."

"My life…I can take care of myself."

Something in the tone of her voice made Peter look up. There was something strange about her eyes, but whether it was the eyes themselves or the look in them Peter couldn't be sure, he had never been very good at reading people.

"Come on, let's go to dinner."

The pair rounded the corner to find Sirius, Remus, and James leaning against another greenhouse and laughing about something. They had waited for him!

"What did you do to Malfoy?" Sirius asked when he saw them, "he looked mad."

"He's just upset that he didn't find the easy targets he thought that he did."

"Speak for yourself," Peter mumbled softly.

"What were you doing back there," James asked Aribeth.

"I spilled my bag, Peter helped me pick it up."

"I told her she could eat with us, she can can't she?" Peter said, suddenly worried that he had overstepped himself.

"It's a free table isn't it?" said Sirius, "but come on, if we don't get there fast I might have to start eating the wildlife so I don't faint from hunger."

xXxXx

Sirius lay with his hands behind his head staring at the top of his four poster bed. Remus was reading his charms book, although Professor Flitwick hadn't assigned any homework, and Peter and James were writing home. As he tried to avoid communication with his family whenever possible and there was no way he was going to do class work just for the fun of it, Sirius was left with his own thoughts.

Although he had waited a long time to get to Hogwarts, finally, a place where he didn't have to answer to his parents every whim, he had forgotten that that would also mean school, real school, not the private tutors that Sirius could always blow off, because there was no real punishment that his parents could give him. No teachers had assigned any real homework tonight, but they had all hinted that this was rare.

Then there was his dorm mates, they all seemed nice enough, certainly none of them were into any of the blood status things that his parents practically worshipped. He could defiantly see himself becoming good friends with James, they both loved Quidditch and could care less about the teacher droning on in front of them. Remus seemed to be more bookish, obviously because he was reading a class book when there was no need. But he had a bit of a sickly look about him, so he would probably never be good at sports, and everyone needed some talent. Just as long as Remus didn't make him read more Sirius could care how much the other boy read. Peter of course was cripplingly shy, but that was something that could be remedied easily enough.

The thing that mystified Sirius the most was Aribeth. Peter had invited her to eat with them, and during dinner, although she was not as talky as the rest of them, she had joined in their discussions of the classes that they had had that day. Maybe she was just having a bad day on the train, although one again Sirius had noticed that her eyes kept coming unfocused. And, when they had gotten back to their dorms for the night, Peter confided that when Malfoy had tried to bully him not only had she stood up for Peter she had literally fought Malfoy off. Sirius would never have guessed that the tiny girl would either know or use any form of self defense, and yet she had used it for Peter.

James shut off his bedside light and Sirius shook his head. There was no use thinking it to death, he likely wouldn't get any answers. Instead, Sirius opted for pulling his bed curtains closed and getting some sleep.

XxXxX

(AN: Shorter than last time but not super short. And a little bit at the beginning to either tell you what is going on or confuse you, whichever. I'm interested to know what you have picked up about Aribeth, because all of the hints that I have dropped seem really obvious to me, but then I know what is going on. At any rate, reviewing makes me really happy, so do it, and I promise I will reply! Plus, whenever I get a review, I often write at least a page on the spot, so reviewing really does make me update faster!)


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